In Part 1 of this series, we were able to demonstrate that any claim of L. Ron Hubbard's having been a spy in Java were demonstrably false. Like much of the myths around Hubbard's life, his Java claims were really unnecessary in the grand scheme of things; it's as though his many legitimate accomplishments were never enough, and when it came to anything remotely connected to the military or intelligence matters, gold plating his exploits was a must. The record shows that he volunteered to serve his country in a time of war, was deployed to combat theatre, and once there, could have made a contribution. Yet this reality wasn't enough for Hubbard, and he would go on to exaggerate and lie about his Pacific service for many more years. In Part 2 of this series, I'll be looking at his time in Australia as reflected in the record and then compare the record, historical context and other data points to Hubbard's recollections.

As with Part 1, in addition to my own research, I will be also drawing on the work of Chris Owen, Jon Atack, and Jeffrey Augustine, as well as records drawn from the Scientology Myths website and other sources.

An Erratum: I inadvertently stated in Part 1 of this series that the USS Polk was part of the Pensacola convoy; she was not. She sailed on December 19th, 1941 from San Francisco, 20 days after the Pensacola convoy's departure on November 29th from Pearl Harbor. The Polk's original destination was Hawaii and not the Philippines as was the case with the Pensacola convoy. However, both convoys were rerouted to Brisbane as a result of Japanese action in the Java sea.